Where Islam spreads, freedom dies

„Muslim
children should be educated according to Islam and taught Arabic and the Quran outside
home, too – in this way strengthening the togetherness of the Islamic community”.
These were the reasons given by the association «Al Huda» (the right path) when
filing a request for an Islamic kindergarten in Volketswil. This would have
been the first of its kind in Switzerland.

But
(the authorities in) the canton of Zürich refused to issue the permit: “There
is the danger that children would be conveyed one-sided values”, the
educational board wrote in a report destined for the media; values “which are
not in accordance with the guiding principles of the school – tolerance,
openness and dialogue”. The board justifies this suspicion with the presumption
that there is a link between the trusteeship of the kindergarten and the
Islamic Central Council (IZRS).

The
educational board has also cast doubts on whether the kindergarten could meet the
goals of the educational plan of Zürich, for in the kindergarten “the religious
knowledge is the basis for everything children will learn and experience in the
future”.

The
Islamic Central Council did not agree with the decision issued by the canton, alleging
that “flimsy reasons” have been brought up. “This is about a discussion on values”,
Spokesman Qasim Illi told Regionaljournal
Zürich Schaffhausen.